Time For Consolation
by Moriyasha Neko-hime
Summary: Nagisa Shiota knew something was wrong when he didn't see Karma in class. ((Mild Spoilers for Chapter 54 of the Manga.))


"**A Time For Consolation"**

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Nagisa Shiota knew something was wrong when he didn't see Karma in class. It wasn't abnormal for the redhead to skip class—for any reason—but he would have thought the most brilliant student in their "E-as-in-End" Class would have wanted to show off his scores. But he wasn't in his seat. Furthermore, when the entire session went by without announcing what Karma had passed, Nagisa began to fear the worst.

Immediately leaving his desk and hurrying outside, Nagisa searched and searched, until he found that familiar head of scarlet-red hair near their class' 'pool'.

"Karma-kun?"

The taller boy whipped around, startled by his friend's silent approach. Upon seeing Nagisa, Karma was quick to hide the crumpled up papers behind his back. "Hey…Nagisa-kun.."

"You weren't in class, I was worried…"

"Yeah…" Karma stuffed his hands into his pockets, looking off to one side. "I heard about Nakamura, Okuda and Isogai… That's three wins for the bet, right?"

"Yeah…" Nagisa blinked, confused by his friend's failure to meet his eyes. "What about you?"

"It's… I heard you scored pretty well!" He smiled brightly.

"Could've been better, could've been worse," the smaller boy shrugged. "Besides that, what are you doing out here?"

"This weather sucks without an AC! It's hot enough, I bet we could cook fried eggs on the rocks! I'd even—"

"Karma," Nagisa stepped forward, his stride even and his tone firm as he asked, "what's wrong?"

At the unyielding tone of voice from the smaller teen, Karma went silent and still for a full ten seconds before he did the most extraordinary thing…

Nagisa watched in shock and awe as his friend's usually pale face started to turn pink. Nagisa had never seen him with such a tight, flushed expression before, in all the time they had known each other. Up to his ears and down his neck, Akabane Karma was _blushing_. 'Adorable' was the first word to jump to mind, but he hastily waved the thought away. Instead, he opted to wait for his friend to answer, patiently watching the shifting color and expressions on the taller boy's face.

"Karma-kun?"

Finally, Karma lowered his head, his red hair hiding his eyes, and held out the crushed papers. Nagisa accepted and carefully unfolded the mutilated papers, reading the numbers that were printed against the white surface. But no matter how Karma had crushed and compacted it, no matter how much he had tried to destroy it short of tearing it apart and burning it, the truth of the score was still visible. Printed in black and white, and marked all over with with red, was the plain and simple truth of his failure.

Nagisa read both pages, quietly and carefully, able to see where the redhead had faulted, before looking back at the dejected form of his friend.

"You can go ahead and laugh," he said, looking away. "All I did was sit there and act cool while the rest of you worked your asses off…"

Nagisa had never really seen Karma in defeat. Never really known if his friend was capable of being defeated by anyone beside their teacher. Seeing it now, he couldn't help smiling. Not that he felt superior to the redhead in any way, but because he could understand the bitter frustration of failure and defeat. This must have been one of the only times Akabane Karma had ever touched upon the feeling.

"I would never laugh at you, Karma."

His head shot up, and he was amazed at the honestly kind smile on Nagisa's face.

"Let's get back," the blue-haired boy urged, taking his friend's hand in his smaller, softer one. "When class is over, let's go hang out." Nagisa laughed sheepishly. "Although neither of us ranked #1 for any subject, it was still a win for our class. I want to celebrate and have some real fun today!"

And so, leading him by the hand, Nagisa brought Karma back to their classroom. But before stepping inside again, Karma suddenly came to a halt, his bigger form making his friend also stop. And in that moment, he leaned his scarlet-red head down on Nagisa's shoulder.

"I'm sorry…"

Blue eyes blinked in surprise. "For what?"

He shook his head, making it roll against the smaller boy's shoulder. "Nothing," he sighed. He then put his arms around Nagisa's small torso, holding him in an almost sad embrace. "Just…let me stay here for a little while."

Seeing no reason why not, though it was mildly uncomfortable, Nagisa stood there for a good long while before they returned to class.


End file.
